my friend thought me how to properly execute downshifting, she does this all the time, her last car lasted 125K miles and didnt even have to change the clutch, she told me that clutches and engines nowadays can withstand those abuse if done properly, besides brakes are chip if you do it yourself but for some that take their car to the dealer I bet its $400 easy..

 

whether you are downshifting, braking, or engine breaking, you will always cause wear on something. you take some pressure off the brakes by engine braking, put strain on your engine. you dont engine brake, you have to replace your pads more. either way you will be wearing out something faster.

I don't think you should worry about it too much, just drive the way you want. modern cars last a long time, so i dont think you will have any issues with wearing your engine down unless you keep your car along time.

personally, i like to engine brake. it makes me feel more in control all the time. always in gear and at a good rpm in case i need to gas it to get out of a sticky situation. just my 2 cents.

 

Exactly! I couldn't have said it better. No matter what you're doing, it's going to cause wear. Just like drivnig your car is going to cause wear! It just depends on what you want to wear down! It's as simple as that. 18 wheelers do it all the time! It saves their brakes and they won't need to get their brakes changed as often.
But more importantly, a great advantage of engine breaking is when you do heal-toe. Not just when you're coming down a long slope, but when you're going into a corner fast and want to accelerate out of the apex. It's all about heal-toe. Personally, that's the only time I downshift, is right before a turn. It's all about the heal toe! :-)

'04 G35 6MT Ivory Pearl
Borla Headers/Dual Cat-Back Exhaust
AirSplat.com for AirSoft Guns!

 

naw, 18 wheelers dont do it to save brakes, the do it incase they want to drift that 18 wheeler around a corner! haha, j/k that would be a funny sight to behold tho...

 

I've had to pay for a clutch job before and it was definitely more expensive than I've ever had to pay to replace brake pads. But kind of like Hitman said, I'm not telling you not to do it, just pointing out the facts.

Depending on the situation, I agree with you. Engine braking is one of the components of speed control that I like in MT cars over AT...which is why I haven't owned an AT car yet. That'll probably change with my next car though.

G35c 6MT/BS/G/Prem/Aero/Nav

 

In point of fact, I've driven an 18-wheeler one summer hauling tomatoes. Brake wear wasn't my concern because it wasn't my truck...so that's not the reason why I used engine braking. The majority of us rookies drove 8-speed (might have been called 9...8 + low gear) cabs and if you slowed down 5-10 mph, you had to downshift to be back in the comfortable rpm range. So, you might as well downshift and engine brake.

And when you're carrying a load where your combined weight is between 40-60,000 lbs, a lot of the times you really need to use a combination of both engine braking + brakes to slow yourself down.

G35c 6MT/BS/G/Prem/Aero/Nav

 

I'm confused. I have always used down-shifting along with my brakes. For the last six years I have owned two BMWs and have not had to replace either the brakes or clutch while driving ~100k on each. (Do they make a better clutch or brake?) The argument seems to be that if you down-shift then you will HAVE to replace your clutch shortly, or if you only brake then you will HAVE to replace your brakes shortly. Is it possible that if you do both, you have reduced the overall wear on one or the other and that you should be able to go longer without replacing either?

Keep in mind I am not talking about downshifting into 5k RPMs. I am talking about downshifting into 2-4k RPMS. Compare how you use the brakes when you slow down while in neutral and when you slow down with the engine engaged even at 3rd gear at 3k RPMs. I find you use the brakes significantly less when the engine is engaged.

Additionally I feel like I have more control and grip when the engine is engaged. Is that just my impression? eg. If you enter a corner at the same speed, but one time you are in neutral and another time you are in gear, I definitely feel like I can hold the corner better in gear, even if I don't accelerate.

Should I change my driving habits?

 

tdotG,

Should you change your driving habits? In short, the answer is no. Why am I saying this? You have driven/owned "two BMWs and have not had to replace either the brakes or clutch while driving ~100k on each". You are downshifting correctly into the right gear for the speed you are going. The problematic issue is when we are talking about those that "pop" into a lower gear by not rev matching, i.e.

Billy is going 80 mph in 4th gear at X rpm, he then shifts into 3rd gear while staying at 80 mph and X rpm. WHAM, the car jerks to hell, that's damage to the tranny (I'm not a tech so I don't know for sure what it damages, but he damages something).

You aren't Billy, tdotG, you are simply shifting to lower gears as your car slows down, the transition is smooth and perfectly fine. No harm done.

You rule.

 

I think you all are forgetting one factor in downshifting....


ITS FUN!

1. we bought the cars to drive them...
2. nothing beats the sound of that engine/exhaust winding down from about 4000rpm...
3. its fun!...

If you wear out your tranny at 120,000 miles instead of 120,500 miles because you downshifted, so be it... You still drove the car the way you wanted to and had as much fun as possible.
If we wanted to be conservative wouldn't we have bought the sedan?

G35Coupe B/B 6MT Aero/Premium